Did we fly to the moon too soon?
Did we squander the chance?
In the rush of the race,
The reason we chase is lost in romance;
And still we try to justify the waste
For a taste of man’s greatest adventure…

Saturday

Lazed in bed for a while, then got up at 8am. Showered, then noticed my Fitbit Versa was misbehaving; it was acting as though one of the buttons was stuck down. Rebooting didn’t help; on careful examination I noticed that there was what looked like water on the inside of the screen. That’s been the last straw.

Over the past three years, I’ve been through five fitbits – two Charge 2s, and three Versas. The Charges both developed cracks in the screen, and when I had the opportunity to upgrade to the Versa for (almost) free thanks to my employer at the time, I jumped at the chance. The first one I had served me well for all of six months before it developed a screen fault. The replacement for that one had a bluetooth problem and wouldn’t sync correctly. The most recent one appears to have bad waterproofing. It might be still under warranty, but I’ve lost patience. In the absence of a return of the defunct Pebble Time 2, I’ve bit the bullet and ordered an Apple Watch. I at least have some confidence it’ll last me unlike the junk I’ve had so far, even if it’s expensive.

Both kids were over tired this morning, despite having slept well; think they needed a low-key couple of days. We did a little light gardening and then, because it hasn’t moved in nearly eight weeks, attempted to start the car. Inexplicably it turned over just fine; I took them both out for a spin just to get the battery up to a decent charge before lunch; for most of the trip they were both glassy-eyed, barely awake. After lunch, it was A’s turn to choose a film, so she subjected us to The Little Mermaid. Despite the protestations from her brother that he wasn’t interested, he soon dropped all pretence of paper craft and joined her on the sofa; it’s the right kind of no-thinking entertainment that was needed.

While the terrible two were occupied, I made a start on my attempt at the Detroit-style pizza I’d been threatening. The dough was so loose it was almost a batter, but it worked fantastically; a slug of olive oil in the bottom of a deep roasting tin, keeping the dough from sticking, with pepperoni layered on top followed by cubed mozzarella and cheddar, finishing up with a tomato sauce made by reducing a couple of tins of tomatoes with herbs and garlic. Definitely one to repeat.

Sunday

Well, I’d been threatening it for a week, and this time I actually did it; got up early and was out on my bike not long after nine. Made it to Hampton Court Palace in next to no time, and was delighted to find Kingston town centre full of people on bikes; seems like there were more people cycling than driving by a huge margin. Got a little lost in Thames Ditton on the way back after running into a road closure, but after getting my bearings, I followed the main road into Epsom before heading home. That last bit of the ride was but far the hardest, seems like 90% of the hill climbing was in the last quarter of a 25 mile ride. Got some decent speeds on the downhill though. Most annoying was the last mile home, a road that was incredibly badly surfaced, and I was bumping all over the place. Stashed my bike in the garden and let J go for her run. I’ve been delighted with the it now that it’s run in, and hope for a few more longer distance adventures in the near future.

After lunch, I was asked by D next door if I’d heard the loud bang? Nope, was my reply, though I soon discovered the cause; seems like the cratered road had done something to my tyres and pinched the front inner tube, which had conspired to explode not much later. I stood for quite a while puzzling over how it was possible for a bike to get a puncture standing on a lawn before I figured it out. Once I’d discovered my spare tube didn’t work either (it was already patched, and the patch somehow split when it was inflated over 60 psi), I gave up and turned my attention to the BBQ, where I smoked the most delicious brisket for dinner, accompanied by spicy wedges and a side salad.